Although green tea extract has been reported to suppress hyperlipidemia, it is unclear how tea extracts prepared from green, oolong, black and pu-erh teas modulate fatty acid synthase expression in rats fed on a high-fructose diet. In this animal study, we evaluated the hypolipidemic and hypoleptinemia effect of these four different tea leaves fed to male Wistar rats for 12 weeks. The results showed that a fructose-rich diet significantly elevated serum triacylglycerols, cholesterol, insulin, and leptin concentrations, as compared with those in the control group. Interestingly, consuming tea leaves for 12 weeks almost normalized the serum triacylglycerols concentrations. Again, rats fed with fructose/green tea and fructose/pu-erh tea showed the greatest reduction in serum TG, cholesterol, insulin and leptin levels. In contrast, serum cholesterol and insulin concentrations of the fructose/oolong tea-fed rats did not normalize. The relative epididymal adipose tissue weight was lower in all rats supplemented with tea leaves than those fed with fructose alone. There was molecular evidence of improved lipid homeostasis according to fatty acid synthase (FAS) protein expression. Furthermore, supplementation of green, black, and pu-erh tea leaves significantly decreased hepatic FAS mRNA and protein levels, and increased AMPK phosphorylation, compared with those of rats fed with fructose only. These findings suggest that the intake of green, black, and pu-erh tea leaves ameliorated the fructose-induced hyperlipidemia and hyperleptinemia state in part through the suppression of FAS protein levels and increased AMPK phosphorylation.

Polyphenol-rich Avicennia marina leaf extracts induce apoptosis in human breast and liver cancer cells and in a nude mouse xenograft model

In this study, we aimed to develop a Stigmata Maydis (corn silk) fraction with dual bio-activities against oxidative stress and protein glycation to protect β-cells from diabetes-induced failure. Corn silk fractions were prepared by partition and chemically characterised by thin-layer chromatography. Free radical scavenging assay, glycation assay, and cell-based viability test (neutral red) were employed to decide the best fraction. Cell death analysis was executed by annexin V/ Propidium iodide staining. Cell proliferation was measured by WST-1. Finally, β-cell function was evaluated by β-cell marker gene expression (RT-PCR) and acute insulin secretion test. Four corn silk fractions were prepared from an ethanolic crude extract of corn silk. In vitro assays indicate ethyl acetate fraction (YMS-EA) was the most potent fraction. YMS-EA also attenuated the hydrogen peroxide- or methylglyoxal-induced induction of reactive oxygen species, reduction of cell viability, and inhibition of cell proliferation. However, YMS-EA was unable to prevent hydrogen peroxide-induced apoptosis or advanced glycation end-products-induced toxicity. Under hyperglycemic conditions, YMS-EA effectively reduced ROS levels, improved mRNA expression of insulin, glucokinase, and PDX-1, and enhanced glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. The similarity of bioactivities among apigenin, luteolin, and YMS-EA indicated that dual activities of YMS-EA might be derived from those compounds. We concluded that YMS-EA fraction could be developed as a preventive food agent against the glucotoxicity to β-cells in Type 2 diabetes.

The natural agent, 1-(2-hydroxy-5-methylphenyl)-3-phenyl-1,3-propanedione (HMDB), has been reported to have growth inhibitory effects on several human cancer cells. However, the role of HMDB in cervical cancer remains unclear. Herein, we found that HMDB dose- and time-dependently inhibited growth of HeLa cervical cancer cells, accompanied with G1 cell cycle arrest. HMDB decreased protein expression of cyclins D1/D3/E and cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) 2/4/6 and reciprocally increased mRNA and protein levels of CDK inhibitors (p15, p16, p21, and p27), thereby leading to the accumulation of hypophosphorylated retinoblastoma (Rb) protein. HMDB also triggered the accumulation of acidic vesicles and formation of microtubule-associated protein-light chain 3 (LC3), followed by increased expression of LC3 and Beclin-1 and decreased expression of p62, suggesting that HMDB triggered autophagy in HeLa cells. Meanwhile, suppression of the expression of survivin and Bcl-2 implied that HMDB-induced autophagy is tightly linked to apoptosis. Exploring the action mechanism, HMDB induced autophagy via the modulation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and mTOR signaling pathway rather than the class III phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase pathway. These results suggest that HMDB inhibits HeLa cell growth by eliciting a G1 arrest through modulation of G1 cell cycle regulators and by concomitantly inducing autophagy through the mediation of AMPK-mTOR and Akt-mTOR pathways, and may be a promising antitumor agent against cervical cancer.